Here are the latest global economic developments on Tuesday around 3:00 PM GMT, as the war in the Middle East enters its 25th day.
Fueled by the prospect of sending American troops, oil and the dollar rise. Oil prices continued to increase following reports that the American army will deploy additional troops to the Middle East, dampening hopes of negotiations mentioned by Donald Trump the previous day.
Around 3:15 PM GMT, the price of a barrel of Brent crude from the North Sea, for delivery in May, rose by 2.85% to $102.79. Its American counterpart, the West Texas Intermediate barrel for the same month’s delivery, gained 3.69% to $91.38.
On the currency side, the dollar rose by 0.22% against the euro to $1.1587, while the price of an ounce of gold also increased by 0.27% to $4,419.40 around 10:30 AM GMT.
Caution on the stock markets. The stock markets were monitoring the latest developments with caution.
In New York, the Dow Jones fell by 0.51%, the Nasdaq index decreased by 0.78%, and the broad S&P 500 index lost 0.53% around 2:00 PM GMT.
Paris switched from positive to negative (-0.63% versus +0.10% around 11:45 AM GMT), the Frankfurt index accelerated its decline (-1.04% versus -0.25%) around 1:30 PM GMT. London declined (-0.16%), as well as Milan (-0.62%).
In Asia, after a strong start, the Nikkei index in Tokyo ended up rising by 1.43%, while the Kospi in South Korea advanced by 2.7%.
Lufthansa, Cathay Pacific, and Air France extend flight suspensions to the Middle East. Lufthansa extended the suspension of flights for all its airlines to the Middle East until the end of April, and even until the end of October for some.
The Hong Kong company Cathay Pacific also decided to extend the suspension until May 31 for its flights to and from Dubai and Riyadh.
Air France, on the other hand, will extend the suspension of its flights, particularly those “to and from Dubai and Riyadh until March 31, 2026 inclusive (or until April 1, 2026, for flights departing from Dubai).”
Eurozone: Private sector growth slows down, hindered by the conflict. The growth of private sector activity slowed down in March in the eurozone due to the conflict in the Middle East, which is driving up energy costs and disrupting business supply chains, according to the PMI Flash index published by S&P Global.
The Philippines declare an energy emergency. Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos declared a national “energy emergency state,” citing risks to fuel supply and the country’s energy stability due to the Middle East war.
A decree allows the Ministry of Energy to make 15% advance payments to secure fuel supply contracts while taking direct measures against hoarding and speculation.
Japan taps into its oil reserves again. Tokyo will release part of its strategic oil reserves starting Thursday, according to Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, to “ensure +the necessary quantity for all of Japan+ of oil products.”
Tokyo had started tapping into the equivalent of 15 days of private sector-held oil reserves last week.
The archipelago will also tap into crude oil storage facilities jointly held with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Kuwait located on Japanese territory, the Prime Minister announced.
Bangladesh raises kerosene prices by 79%. Bangladesh announced a 79% increase in kerosene prices due to rising hydrocarbon prices, said the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC).
The cumulative increase in kerosene prices now reaches 111% since the start of the conflict.
Amazon’s cloud subsidiary services in Bahrain are “disrupted” after drone attacks. The disruption “related to the conflict” in the Middle East is still ongoing, said the provider, who did not provide details on the affected site or any damages caused by this incident in the past 24 hours.
According to AFP correspondents in Bahrain, the government’s portal for online transactions is not accessible, like several other services. And the country’s main telecommunications company sent a message to its clients apologizing for a “technical issue” affecting its operation.
